This Week in 40K Podcasting – 6/29/2012 – 7/05/2012

Welcome to another “This Week in 40K Podcasting,”

Here is this week’s top 5!

Highlights:  This week the guys begin their full tactical break down of the new 6^th Edition rulebook.  They are joined this week by Allan ‘Blackmoor’ Hernandez and they discuss the beginnings of the 6^thEdition rulebook.  They start off with their first impressions of the new rules, their overall feel for the new game and each cast member gives a list of their pros and cons for this edition.  This included some rules shenanigans that they have accidently discovered, such as sniping out characters in the shooting and assault phases, the challenge rules, and the wound allocation rules.  They then move on to a chapter by chapter review of the book, starting by covering the basics like pre-measuring at any time and better clarifications on things from 5^th.  Next, they discuss squad movement and heavy weapons and snap shots and its uses.  They then move on to a detailed discussion about wound allocation in the shooting phase and how this seems a bit wonky and could slow the game down.  They also discuss the ‘out of sight’, ‘out of range’, and ‘Look Out, Sir!’ rules.  They then go over the dramatic changes to cover saves, and this included the new focus fire feature.  Next, they talk about the massive changes made to the assault phase, including random charge length, overwatch, and the multi-phases of the assault, including the multiple pile-ins, AP now on close combat weapons, and multi-combats getting nerfed a bit.   They then take a look at how they think the game will change with the new rules and what they predict will happen in the competitive events.  They also took a look at some questions from their fans, which included the death of MSU, speed of the game, and much more.  To close out the show, Eric is back with ‘Tactical Terrain’ and he and Neil discuss how 6^th Edition will affect terrain in the new edition, and how do you place terrain now? 

Opinion:  This was easily my favorite show this week, with the most detailed explanation of the new 6^th Edition rules that I have heard to date.  As I had hoped and expected, the guys do a complete job discussing the basic rules of the game, highlighting all of the major changes to the game and the potential ramifications of these new rules.  For those looking to learn the new rule set, aside from playing some games yourself, I would HIGHLY recommend tuning in to the 11^th Company of the next few weeks (and every week after that!) to get all of your 6^th Edition education!   

Highlights:  This week, Jeff and Big Jim are talking 6^th Edition, with rule books in hand.  The boys are having an open discussion about the new rules and open up with their initial reactions to the new edition.  They guys are mostly positive and point out how this rule set might be the best version of 40K yet!  They move on to talk about how they received their 6^th Edition material, or how they didn’t get it.  They talk about how GW dropped the ball on shipping out this important release.  This also included some rumors of the release of the new Chaos Codex and the contests of the new box set!  They move on to discuss how they do not believe wound allocation is going to be as bad as everyone thinks it will be, or nearly as exploitable as the net is saying it will be.  They discussed the talk around the tournament circuit out there about removing rules from the game before really getting a feel for what it is going to be like.  They do get into a few areas where they do not understand what GW was going for, things like not being able to assault out of reserves, how reserves work all together, flak missiles and who can get them, and the poor way to handle the FAQs.  They close out the show with a brief discussion about a TCP Narrative supplement to 40K. 

Opinion:  Jeff and Big Jim did a really outstanding job talking about 6^th Edition in this week’s podcast.  It was an interesting contract for me to hear the point of view from the more narrative focused players and how excited they were about the new edition of the game.  Which really has me excited about it as well, and looking forward to the more ‘cinematic’ feel to this edition of the game.  I’d highly recommend this one as well for anyone looking to learn about the new rules!

Turn 8 – Episode 22

Highlights:  This week the cast of five opens up their show with ‘the Round up’, where they discuss what they have been up to lately in gaming and the hobby.  This included an 1850 tournament at Stomping Grounds.  Next up the guys move on to the news, where they give their overview of the 6^th Edition release, and this included the book, the tape measure, the templates and the card set.  They then moved on to discuss what is due out from Forgeworld and the Black Library.  Next, they gang bids a fond farewell to 5^th edition.  They talked about what ways the game changed when 5^th edition came along, and this included some rule changes that made the game better.  They then move on to talk about the most up-to-date rumors of what will come with 6^thEdition, including Psychic powers, Fortifications and new terrain effects, Allies and Warlords, and Flyers!  Next was the conclusion to their three part mini Battle Report series.  This was a 1000 point battle with two secret armies, and they discussed the mission and the layout of the battlefield.  Next was the outstanding dramatization of their battle report as it came to its climatic conclusion.  They followed up the battle report with a wrap up of the game, which included the revealed lists, overall evaluation of how well things went, and Rich playing his first game!  To close out the show, Turn 8 Talks Tournaments, and this time around the guys discuss the 1850 Point event they attended at Stomping Grounds games.  The guys discuss the lists that they took and a detailed review of each of their games, and Andy took 4^th and Mike took 6^th!  

Opinion:  While this show is a bit behind, due to the release of 6^th and rumors are known facts, it was still a pretty good show and mostly focused on their goodbye to 5^thedition.  This week’s battle report was outstanding as usually, and my personal congratulations to Rich on his first game of 40K.  It’s about time!  I personally love the linked story line and hope this is something the guys keep up in the future.  Also, the next time I am out their way, I am going to have to check out Stomping Grounds, sounds like a great store! 

Jaded Gamercast – Episode 83 ***Explicit***

Highlights:  This week Nathan and Lange discuss their first impressions of 6^thEdition.  They open by talking about what they really like about the rule changes, and individual rules that make the game better than it was in 5^th Edition.  This went from the new Consolidation rules and physic powers to the new missions, mysterious terrain, snap shot, and much more!  They then break to play a game of 6^th Edition and the guys review their game and their feel for the rules after having played a game.  They point out some rules that are standing out as being quite dramatic to the game and how the feel of the game has changed.  They also discussed the Allies system and why were Tyranids left out of the ally rule set, and what they are looking forward to with this new Edition. 

Opinion:  This week’s show was worth the wait!  The guys have always steamrolled you with their unfiltered and unadulterated opinion on everything, and it was really interesting to hear about how they felt about the new edition.  They have always had a less competitive angle to their style and I really appreciated their view points on what they l0ove about this game, and what they didn’t care for.  It was clear that both Nathan and Lange were excited by this new game, and it was great hearing that they were back to playing some 40K!  A great conversation guys, and a great show!  Thanks!

40K Radio – Episode 43 ***Explicit***

Highlights:  This week, Kyle, Rik and Romeo are back for another exciting episode of 40K Radio!  They open up the show with what they have been doing lately in gaming and the hobby.  They move on to talk about what they are looking forward to the most with the coming of 6^th Edition.  These included discussions about Snap Fire, Mysterious Terrain, Wound Allocation, Hull Points, and much more!  They also discuss what they are not looking forward to with this new edition, mostly the nerd rage that a new edition will bring about.  Up next, the guys answered some fun questions from their forum members in ‘Rapid Fire’, some of these were directly 40K related, some more for comedic purposes.  This finished off with some talk of the early days of Battle Foam, and a few interesting stories from back in the day!

Opinion:  Again, while being a bit dated as we now all have rulebooks in hand, it was great to hear from the guys and what they were looking forward to with 6^thEdition.  They discuss some of the more popular rumors that were out there and discussed what they were hoping to see in the new edition.  There was a neat little bonus in here as well, as the guys talked a bit about the early days of Battlefoam, with some fun anecdotes 

Honorable Mentions – All great podcasts that just missed this cut this week, but you should still check them out, in no particular order:

Life After the Cover Save – Episode 52 ***Explicit*** Personal weeks, Josh is getting married, the usual antics, and a goodbye 5^th Edition. 

Imperial Vox Cast – Episode 77 ***Explicit*** A review of the special character from the Badab War

Signals from the Frontline ***Explicit*** – Frankie and Reese give their first impressions of 6^thEdition and more detailed impressions of 6th after some games